Neighborhood struggles to make sense of Santa Rosa boy's shooting

A hole remains where investigators removed a bullet from a house near the location Andy Lopez, 13, was shot and killed by a Sonoma County Sheriff's deputy on Tuesday, October 22, 2013. (photo by John Burgess/The Press Democrat)

The added scrutiny has never been an issue for Sam Hin, whose mother lives in the neighborhood.

"A lot of people say this is not a great neighborhood, but we've never had any problems," said Hin, who works in human resources at a skilled nursing facility. "It's our home. It's what we're used to."

But Shannon Peavler, an in-home support provider whose mother lives on Moorland Avenue, said deputies "come into the neighborhood thinking it's a bad neighborhood, so they treat people that way."

She described a previous incident in which she said a sheriff's deputy pulled a gun and Taser on her mother following a traffic stop outside her home.

"I'm not afraid of gang members or bad people," Peavler said. "I'm scared of the sheriffs."

Signs at the memorial that grows by the day for the teen at the field where he was slain included one that read: "Wanted for Murder. Sonoma County Sheriff."

The field is a half-mile north of Lopez's home. He was walking to a friend's house when deputies encountered him.

At the Berry's Market at Moorland Avenue and Todd Road, where the teen used to buy candy for his little sister, manager Mary Sega said reaction from customers has been split between anger and despair.

"Some people are very angry that a child was killed by police, saying they (law enforcement) should know what they see. The other half are devastated for the parents and the deputy for what happened," she said.

Sega stopped by the family home Thursday afternoon, delivering a platter of food from the store and visiting with the boy's mother.

"I just had to go down there to tell her how devastated I am for her," she said.

Sandra and Michael Larsen, who live across the street from the Lopez home, said Andy Lopez used to wait for the school bus in their driveway and chase his bull terrier dog back home from their yard. The Larsens' granddaughter, who attended the same elementary school as Lopez, and her fourth-grade classmates spent Wednesday writing letters of condolence to his family. The stack of colored and carefully penned notes sat ready for delivery just inside their doorway.

"Nice kid. Very polite, good looking," Michael Larsen said.

Sandra Larsen voiced some understanding for the predicament authorities said the two deputies faced, seeing a gun they apparently didn't know was fake.

"With so many things happening nowadays," she said, referring to recent mass shootings across the country and cases of gun violence among children, "you don't know what's going to happen. So the officers might be edgier than what they used to be."

The deputy who fired the fatal shots feared for his life, that of his partner and the community, according to Santa Rosa police, who are investigating the shooting. Police said the teen was carrying a replica AK-47 assault-style rifle, and that he turned toward the two deputies who had stopped to investigate.

Several residents Thursday weren't buying it.

"No one needed to hop out of the car and shoot him," said Brian Bushon, a delivery truck driver who said he served as a military police officer in the Air Force.

Bushon, who lives with his wife and 16-month-old son nine doors down from where Lopez was slain, said he discovered a bullet in his driveway following the shooting. He turned it over to investigators.

Bushon said he's always had positive interactions with sheriff's deputies. But he said the deputies involved in Tuesday's shooting should have realized that the weapon Lopez wielded was the equivalent of a toy.

Santa Rosa police said the two deputies involved in Tuesday's deadly encounter did not realize at the time that Lopez was a juvenile. And there have been isolated cases around the nation of kids using guns to carry out deadly attacks.

Still, several residents in the Moorland Avenue area Thursday said they would have recognized that what Lopez carried was a BB gun. Kids in the neighborhood often play with such guns, including at the field near where the teen was killed.

"You would think that if someone had an issue with it, they would have called it in, if they thought he was a threat," Peavler said.

Residents said that without a bona fide park within easy walking distance, the field was a de facto gathering place. Empty juice box cartons and candy bar wrappers littered the field, which is bisected by a worn footpath that splices through the weeds.

"My daughter comes out here all the time. I have nothing to worry about," said a woman who gave her name as Mirabel.

But in the aftermath of Tuesday's deadly shooting, the woman was rethinking Halloween costumes for the kids.

The added scrutiny has never been an issue for Sam Hin, whose mother lives in the neighborhood.

"A lot of people say this is not a great neighborhood, but we've never had any problems," said Hin, who works in human resources at a skilled nursing facility. "It's our home. It's what we're used to."

But Shannon Peavler, an in-home support provider whose mother lives on Moorland Avenue, said deputies "come into the neighborhood thinking it's a bad neighborhood, so they treat people that way."

She described a previous incident in which she said a sheriff's deputy pulled a gun and Taser on her mother following a traffic stop outside her home.

"I'm not afraid of gang members or bad people," Peavler said. "I'm scared of the sheriffs."

Signs at the memorial that grows by the day for the teen at the field where he was slain included one that read: "Wanted for Murder. Sonoma County Sheriff."

The field is a half-mile north of Lopez's home. He was walking to a friend's house when deputies encountered him.

At the Berry's Market at Moorland Avenue and Todd Road, where the teen used to buy candy for his little sister, manager Mary Sega said reaction from customers has been split between anger and despair.

"Some people are very angry that a child was killed by police, saying they (law enforcement) should know what they see. The other half are devastated for the parents and the deputy for what happened," she said.

Sega stopped by the family home Thursday afternoon, delivering a platter of food from the store and visiting with the boy's mother.

"I just had to go down there to tell her how devastated I am for her," she said.

Sandra and Michael Larsen, who live across the street from the Lopez home, said Andy Lopez used to wait for the school bus in their driveway and chase his bull terrier dog back home from their yard. The Larsens' granddaughter, who attended the same elementary school as Lopez, and her fourth-grade classmates spent Wednesday writing letters of condolence to his family. The stack of colored and carefully penned notes sat ready for delivery just inside their doorway.

"Nice kid. Very polite, good looking," Michael Larsen said.

Sandra Larsen voiced some understanding for the predicament authorities said the two deputies faced, seeing a gun they apparently didn't know was fake.

"With so many things happening nowadays," she said, referring to recent mass shootings across the country and cases of gun violence among children, "you don't know what's going to happen. So the officers might be edgier than what they used to be."

The deputy who fired the fatal shots feared for his life, that of his partner and the community, according to Santa Rosa police, who are investigating the shooting. Police said the teen was carrying a replica AK-47 assault-style rifle, and that he turned toward the two deputies who had stopped to investigate.

Several residents Thursday weren't buying it.

"No one needed to hop out of the car and shoot him," said Brian Bushon, a delivery truck driver who said he served as a military police officer in the Air Force.

Bushon, who lives with his wife and 16-month-old son nine doors down from where Lopez was slain, said he discovered a bullet in his driveway following the shooting. He turned it over to investigators.

Bushon said he's always had positive interactions with sheriff's deputies. But he said the deputies involved in Tuesday's shooting should have realized that the weapon Lopez wielded was the equivalent of a toy.

Santa Rosa police said the two deputies involved in Tuesday's deadly encounter did not realize at the time that Lopez was a juvenile. And there have been isolated cases around the nation of kids using guns to carry out deadly attacks.

Still, several residents in the Moorland Avenue area Thursday said they would have recognized that what Lopez carried was a BB gun. Kids in the neighborhood often play with such guns, including at the field near where the teen was killed.

"You would think that if someone had an issue with it, they would have called it in, if they thought he was a threat," Peavler said.

Residents said that without a bona fide park within easy walking distance, the field was a de facto gathering place. Empty juice box cartons and candy bar wrappers littered the field, which is bisected by a worn footpath that splices through the weeds.

"My daughter comes out here all the time. I have nothing to worry about," said a woman who gave her name as Mirabel.

But in the aftermath of Tuesday's deadly shooting, the woman was rethinking Halloween costumes for the kids.